U.S. Consumer Comfort Gains on Better Personal Financial Outlook

(Bloomberg) -- A weekly measure of Americans’ sentiment reached the second-highest level since 2000, adding to indications consumers remain generally upbeat even as respondents said in a monthly poll that they were somewhat less upbeat about their expectations for the economy.

The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index edged up to 61.8 in the week ended June 16, nearing an almost two-decade high in March as the measure of personal finances climbed to the best level since 2000. The monthly gauge of expectations for the economy edged down 2 points to 50.5 in June as more said conditions are getting worse, according to data released Thursday.

Key Insights

• Despite increased uncertainty from slowing global growth and President Donald Trump’s trade wars, sentiment among Americans has been holding up as the labor market remains strong -- a characterization echoed Wednesday by Federal Reserve policy makers. Surveys from the University of Michigan and the Conference Board have recently been hovering around some of their best levels in more than a decade.
• Among the main indexes for the weekly survey, the personal finances gauge increased to 68.6, while views on the state of economy were brighter than the prior week. The buying climate index declined.

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• The comfort gauge for part-time employees rose to the highest since 2000 while the index for renters climbed to a fresh post-2000 peak.
• The index for Republicans rose to its highest since November.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ryan Haar in New York at rhaar3@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Scott Lanman at slanman@bloomberg.net, Jeff Kearns, Sarah McGregor

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